STARBUCKS INSPIRED LEMON LOAF CAKE

OH MY YUM! This loaf cake is heavenly! Moist, dense, tangy and perfectly lemony. A great little cake to have on hand for family. And it’s company worthy too! If Starbuck’s Lemon Loaf is one of your favorites you might want to try this scrumptious loaf and see how it stand up to the original. I bet you will agree that it is even better and can be made at home! I’m not much of a baker unless the recipe is almost no-fail and easy and luscious! This recipe fills those requirements and gets an A+ from me. Let’s make Lemon Loaf Cake!

The great thing about this recipe is that I don’t have to pull out my mixer! Everything is hand whisked and easy! The ingredients are simple too. But the results are really delicious!

Lemon Loaf Cake is not a traditional pound cake because it uses no butter. But the moistness comes from sour cream and just a little oil. It’s has a nice dense crumb and great intense, tangy flavor!

5 from 2 votes

Starbuck’s Inspired Lemon Loaf

A moist, dense and very lemony cake with a delicious lemon glaze. A must make!
Print Recipe

Ingredients

  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 2 TBS lemon zest
  • 2 tsp lemon extract
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
  • 3 TBS fresh squeezed lemon juice

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 9 x 5 loaf pan with cooking spray and dust with flour. Set aside.
    In a large bowl whisk eggs and sugar until well incorporated. Add sour cream, lemon zest, lemon extract until mixed together. In a slow stream add oil and keep whisking until incorporated.
    In another bowl add flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix to combine. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until just incorporated. There may be a few lumps and that’s okay. Do not over mix or the cake will be hard.
    Put the batter into the loaf pan and bake. After the loaf cake has baked for 40 minutes tent it with foil so it does not get too browned. Then finish baking it the remaining 10 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out of the loaf clean. Remove the lemon loaf when you can insert a toothpick and it comes out clean.
    Let the lemon loaf cool for 30 minutes or more and then take it out of a pan and let it cool completely before glazing.
    To glaze
    Combine confectioner’s sugar and lemon juice in a bowl and whisk until smooth. You may need to add extra confectioner’s sugar or lemon juice to get it to the right drizzling consistency. I prefer a glaze opposed to icing. You can adjust the sugar/lemon juice ratio to reflect whether you like glaze or icing.
    Drizzle glaze over cooled cake. Cut and enjoy.
    Lemon loaf freezes well.

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Recipe Rating




39 Comments

  1. Yvonne~

    This looks wonderful !! I love Lemon anything so this is on my list to bake and share with my sister !!

    Have a super week !!
    Paula

    p.s. Where did you find the cute little white pitchers???

    1. Hi Paula, can you be a little more specific… which white pitcher. Thanks!

  2. Carol Davis says:

    Target Super stores has been carrying a nice collection of white dishes and matching pieces. And at very reasonable prices. They also have an internet site.

  3. Any chance this can be made equally as scrumptious but gluten free?
    Thanks!

  4. Sounds great but it sounds as if it needs to bake longer than 40 min. How long did you have to bake the loaf? I like to know approx. How long I need to keep checking it. Thanks!

    1. The total baking time (50 minutes) is at the top of the recipe. Thanks for your question, I made the total baking time in the recipe a little clearer.

    1. Hi Jessy, I hope you try it. It is so scrumptious! Thanks for pinning. LOVE my pinners!

  5. I will try this one, love the lemon. I’ve tried one I pinned was suppose to be Starbucks inspired but it used juice instead of extract I think this one will have a better lemony flavor that I’m looking for. Thanks for sharing

  6. Sigrid Sattler says:

    Yvonne!!! This recipe is fabulous! I made it yesterday and pretty much the whole loaf is gone. Both my daughter and husband like it that the loaf is covered with a glaze and not icing. Thank you so much for sharing it. It’s a keeper.

  7. Paula Tooman says:

    Dear Yvonne,

    I have never commented on anyone’s posts before, but I felted lead by the Holy Spirit to say thank you for your Christian witness that you so lovingly and willingly share with me and others who read your blog. I’m so thankful that you share the sweet words and promises from the bible of our precious Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. May the Lord bless and keep you and continue to give you the words to share each week. May He hide you behind the cross and His name be glorified by your witness and lives be touch through His word as mine have. Thank you again and God bless you.
    Love in Christ,
    Paula Tooman

  8. Hi Yvonne, this lemon loaf sounds wonderful. Is it really 2 TABLESPOONS of lemon extract? It sounds like a lot but I will try it if that’s what it takes! Thanks for all your great ideas!

  9. Darlene James says:

    Oh my goodness giving each a try. Our Bible Study group will love these. Last time we provided refreshments I baked 5 loaves of fall breads (and) came home with an empty tray!

  10. Nancy Smith says:

    A bit of spring on a plate….

  11. Lillian Lane says:

    I recently got some Meyer lemons from a neighbor with lemon trees, so I think I need to fix this–it sounds yummy.

  12. Portia Read says:

    Love lemony things. I will try this lemon loaf cake and the others too!

  13. Abbie Lawyer says:

    That looks delicious. I will have to try this. Thank you.
    Do you have a recipe for a carrot cake loaf.

    1. Hi Abby, No I don’t have a recipe for carrot loaf. Is it like carrot cake?

  14. Pmckellar1@comcast.net says:

    5 stars
    I made this yesterday and it is simply devine with the perfect amount of lemon flavor. Thank you Yvonne for sharing this wonderful recipe.

  15. 5 stars
    Thanks so very much for getting the lemon cake back up on your post today to be able to print?you are an the bestest – can’t wait to make this week- I have all the things to put it together – it looks so yummy!!!

    1. A new system came to blogland and really turned my blog upside down. All my printables have to be redone. UGH!!!! But I’m thrilled you got to print out this recipe. If you have Pinterest, remember to save it so it will be easy for you to find!

      1. Please re-post your fabulous meatloaf recipe. I had it bookmarked and upgraded my phone. My recipe went AWOL!???

  16. OK. Now my mouth is watering and I want something sweet with a cup of coffee.;) And, did I mention…I love Starbucks!:)

  17. Kim @Serving Up Southern says:

    Hi Yvonne! This looks amazing! I love all things lemon and can’t wait to try this loaf cake. Thanks so much for joining us and sharing over at Homestyle Gathering.

  18. I made your recipe for Starbucks inspired Lemon Loaf Cake. Your recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of Lemon Extract, which I followed. Should it have been 2 teaspoons? It was very overpowering to the point that is was ineatable.

    1. Sorry this recipe did not work for you! I’ll make it again and see but I think 2 TBS is right.

  19. 3 stars
    I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. I’ve tried this recipe twice and both time my loaf came out dark. I followed the directions to the tee. I think the bake time is off. Maybe 20-25 minutes and omit the cover and bake for additional 10 minutes because once I opened the oven my loaf fell ?. Please help

  20. Mary Elsom says:

    5 stars
    The lemon cake…..to die for! (Only then I couldn’t enjoy the cake!)

    Thank you for this recipe. I ended up doubling the recipe and it fits into three of the 4×8 small aluminum tins perfectly.

    I doubled the recipe because the sour cream comes in a 2 cup size, so instead of maybe letting the sour cream go to waste, make more cakes! The American way I say!

    I have to laugh, at the end of the recipe you advise, “let the cake cool for 30 minutes.”
    What??? That cake is at its best right out of the oven, drip some glaze over it— FABULOUS!

    These cakes do freeze very well, as you suggested, so don’t worry about having too much lemon cake….you can’t ever have too much lemon cake….

    Thank you, ?
    Mary

  21. Thanks for the lemon cake recipe. The cake looks so good.

  22. I made this today since we are self quarantined, and it is quite delicious! I did end up baking it almost an extra 30-40 minutes though (Could be my oven). I also used bread flour since that is what I had on hand and our local store was out of flour and sugar (and TP of course). Thank you for posting Yvonne. God Bless!

  23. MARY-ANN (FROM CANADA!) says:

    5 stars
    HAPPY NEW YEAR! YVONNE! We pray that this will be a wonderful year for you and Bobby.

    Thanks for this delicious recipe, Yvonne! My dear hubby loves lemon anything. I will make this today! Thanks, too, for returning your weekly meal plan! I know this is a lot of work for you but we sure do appreciate all you do for us!

    Bless you for being so special!

  24. 5 stars
    Easy and delicious recipe! I used canola oil. Ans still was lovely. Great tip on using the foil to cover the top of the loaf when baking. I used my toaster oven to bake the loaf.